Typical energy absorbers, particularly those used in fall protection system applications, are made using exposed metal part(s) that have to be replaced regularly due to detrimental environmental conditions (e.g., lightning strikes, rust, corrosion, exposure to hazardous chemicals, accidently damaged by other equipment, etc.). The replacement process for these typical energy absorbers takes time and replacement costs to the equipment owners.
When a webbing or a coiled piece of steel of typical energy absorbers dissipate or absorb energy, the materials are typically sheered apart and/or stretched, which means the product (be it a safety line system or a personal energy absorber) length is greatly increased. Testing performed on existing energy absorbers, coupled with existing absorber documentation shows that if properly used, many energy absorbers require as much as 54 inches to fully absorb the forces. This means more required clear fall distance that can be difficult to achieve or a big challenge in many work environments.